Kazak Ponies
Primarily found in Stalliongrad and its environs, the Kazak ponies are a tribal warrior culture which evolved during the Lunar exile. The original Kazaks fled Equestria to the Southwest after the so-called Lunar Rebellion, not so much out of loyalty to Princess Luna as out of mistrust with a leader who imprisoned her own sister for what sounded like (from a misunderstood distance) a request for equal time. The Kazak ponies lived as nomads in the griffon and dragon-lands (and are responsible for at least a few score of incidents between Equestria and those kingdoms in the past thousand years), occasionally stopping in one spot and defending and farming it for a while before enough griffons amassed to drive them off again. At some point, they took the name the Griffons called them as their own ("Keeeeeeeezahhgk!" being a Southern Griffon term for "raider" or "bandit") Two hundred years ago, Celestia finally convinced them to return and settle in a chunk of land ceded by the Griffons, where they and other expansionist ponies founded Stalliongrad. Since the founding, Kazak ponies have explored and settled around Equestria, forming little communities here and there. Kazaks have been gradually integrating into the more Equestrian mainstream, but still possess very distinct cultural markers: the vast majority of both genders sign up for military service, either in local militias or the Royal Guard, but the original Stalliongrad Militsiya with its Kazak-influenced uniform and structure is preferred. Language Kazaks have their own creole tongue, a hybrid of Equestrian and Griffon, and are able to make themselves equally misunderstood in both languages. The accent tends to sound harsh to Equestrians and somewhat weak to Griffons, although a dedicated Kazak will scream himself hoarse trying to keep up with the more difficult vowels of Griffon. Appearance Traditional Kazak dress is reflected in the modern Stalliongrad Militsiya uniform: tall furry hats, long double-breasted coats, broad-cuffed and close-fitted about the forequarters (the Militsiya has also adopted (or rather, maintained) the old Kazak rank structure with Griffon pronunciation and even some Griffon terms for higher ranks.). Kazak adults often wear sabers and saber-dueling is culturally permitted (usually only to a position of advantage rather than contact or first-blood, but truly legendary affronts may lead to real bloodfeuds and then all bets are off). Warriors, particularly those in the Militsiya, do not cut their manes and tails but rather weave them into long, thick braids under the excuse that this prevents them getting in the way in combat (unlikely). When braids reach a certain length, traditional Kazaks will simply loop them, while there is a habit among emulators to render them into tighter-bundled coifs. This distinction is particularly notable between the Stalliongrad Militsiya (who wear their braids old-style) and the Stalliongrad politsiya (who tend to bundle them more densely). Religion With the departure from Equestria (referred to variously in local history and legend as "the Exile" despite its voluntary nature), some elements of worship shifted among the Kazaks. While Luna was not elevated, the three pony Paragons (Hurricane, Puddinghead and Platinum) were raised to nearly the stature of the Princesses, and Celestia came to be regarded as a trickster goddess... An association which has still not shifted among Stalliongraders of Kazak descent. Portrayal in Pony Pop Culture Kazak ponies are still an exotic enough minority that they crop up as a stereotype in romances and adventure stories. Kazak characters are invariably big and savage and scary and dangerous. They wear their manes and tails in braids so they don't get tangled on things in combat (which they supposedly love...To read some of the more sensational books you'd think Kazaks held honor duels every morning to decide what was for breakfast). They wear immense floppy moustaches (even some of the women -- another exaggeration), speak outlandish hybrids of pony and Griffon (true), they hate griffons with a passion (not entirely true...Griffons have been a part of Stalliongrad's community since its foundation and there are various Griffon traders and small communities in the Elsir Vale...Outposts of the great Southern tribes, undoubtedly...But the relationship between most Kazaks and Griffons is one of wary, mutual respect...The two communities have fought each other for far too long, far too hard to have any illusions about it...Bloodfeuds do exist, but are rare and not socially sanctioned). Kazak ponies in Equestrian adventure or travel novels are most likely to be naively trusting boisterous warriors with no social skills, getting themselves into trouble often and requiring the heroine to rescue them, and invariably turning on the hero at a critical point over some outrageous little point of barbaric Kazak honor and forcing the hero to duel with them (at which point, of course, the Equestrian hero triumphs either through cleverness or some other refinement of civilization... better magic, schooled bladework rather than flailing about haphazardly with sabers, or better scientific understanding of the weather...the trope, most pony writers would agree, particularly doesn't allow for the heroine to defeat the Kazak by brute force, that being the Kazak's own element). The Kazak pony usually either becomes the hero's sworn best friend after the duel then dies in some outrageously glorious fashion by accomplishing some feat of strength no sensible pony would attempt alone, thereby removing an obstacle from the heroine's path (as in the case of Daring-Do's roguish Kazak companion Zalla*)...Or withdraws to become the hero's savagely cunning pony-nemesis, with a bizarre frontier sense of 'Kazak honor' that permits random cruelties, traps and ambushes, but demands the satisfaction of confronting the hero in a grand duel to resolve matters. In saddle-ripper romances, the Kazak will either be a brash and licentiously wild outlander whose passion is "unfettered by the reins of civility" or a smoldering, savage threat to the heroine's true love. Needless to say, most Kazaks don't read this sort of outrageous trash. Category:Stalliongrad Category:Lore